Words to fill the silence
by MrDrStrange
Summary: Just a sweet, late night exchange between two boys starting over. Implied/Mentioned PTSD, 8th year, pre-slash.


"Beautiful night, isn't it?"

The quiet question startled Draco out of his thoughts, causing him to spin around hastily to face the newcomer. For a breif second he entertained the idea of spitting out a biting response and stalking away. It's what the old Draco would've done.

Instead, he remained silent, shoulders slightly slumped and hair tousled in the autumn wind. A far cry from the image of the perfect Malfoy heir that he was raised to be.

They were adults now. The fighting was over. The war was over. At least that's what people said. Draco didn't really feel like any sort of adult, merely a child grown up too fast, unsure of his place in a world where there are no side to choose. He turned back to the black water stretched out in his view, and away from Potter.

"The question is, what do we do now?" The words were so unequivocally random and yet needed no explanation. Potter had stepped up beside him now, looking out over the stary lake, and it was only because of this that Draco disjointedly noted that the man next to him was about an inch and a half taller.

He scoffed, words laced with a mocking tone but turning slightly wistful. "Be kids, learn, heal, bond. Who knows?"

There was no response from beside him so Draco finally took his eyes off the night around him. Potter's eyebrows were creased and even in the low light he could see the beginnings of a frown marring his features.

"Is that what they really think? That we can just ignor the empty chairs and the nightmares? They want to go back to how it was before, without realising that the only way to move on is to move forward." Draco's eyebrows raised.

"How poetic, Potter, you-"

"Harry. My name is Harry." The interruption was insistent and was made more pronounced by the quick turning of his body to face Draco. It took a moment to process the words and even then he wasn't sure what to feel. On one hand he was confused and vaguely suspicious, on the other he was a touch grateful. So he took a shaky breath and decided that if now wasn't the time to wear his heart on his sleeve, then there never was one.

He held out his right hand.

"Hi Harry, I'm Draco. Start over?" It was a risk, but then again, anything real always is. For way too long a moment, Harry did nothing but stare at the offered hand, but then his brain seemed to catch up and a small, unfairly gorgeous smile lit up his eyes. The fingers that grasped Draco's were rough and callused but so, so warm, holding on for a beat longer than necessary.

"Sure, nice to meet you Draco." Draco grinned involuntarily at the way his name rolled off Harry's tongue. He could get used to this.

But then, as if both men suddenly remembered the reason they were out there in the first place, the moment was broken and Harry turned and walked a few paces away. For a terrifying moment Draco thought that Harry was done with their conversation and didn't want to be there anymore. But the idea left just as quickly as it had come when he saw his companion settle down under a tree, bronze skin gently illuminated by suspended golden lanterns floating among the leaves. Harry looked up at him, then at the empty space in the dirt next to him, almost like an invitation. Draco took it as one.

Acutely aware of how closely their bodies were pressed against the trunk, he found that the tension in his aching muscles refused to release, causing him to shift restlessly over the roots. To distract himself, he looked up into the canopy above, into the globes of warm golden magic sending shadows dancing through the branches.

He jumped slightly but resolutely didn't look down when a weight settled over his worrying hands and gently pried them apart. Harry didn't say a word as he began to massage his palm, not when his keyed up body relaxed bit by bit, not when his mind returned to the peaceful plain, devoid of any doubt or uncertainties. Not even when Draco's exhausted body eventually betrayed him, his eyes slipping closed and his breathing deepening.

He didn't have to.


End file.
